brand logo

International Criminal Court warrant necessary to arrest Gota 

26 Jul 2022

  • Former SL Human Rights Commissioner Prof. Mahanamahewa says war crime was a ‘humanitarian op against LTTE’
  • Responds to ITJP’s criminal complaint to AG of Singapore
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  The International Criminal Court (ICC) must issue a warrant if former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is to be arrested over alleged war crimes, stated lawyer, legal academic, and former Sri Lanka Human Rights Commissioner Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa. Speaking to The Morning, Prof. Mahanamahewa said that while a human rights group (the International Truth and Justice Project [ITJP]) has filed a criminal complaint seeking the arrest of Rajapaksa for committing alleged war crimes during the country's civil war, in order to arrest him, the ICC should issue the relevant warrant. “In Sri Lanka, the military operation in question was a humanitarian operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and not against civilians. Rajapaksa was only the Defence Secretary at the time, and he was holding a Government position; therefore, it is not reasonable to charge him. The UK and the US changed the amnesty laws during the conduct of the invasion of Iraq and the war and direct violence that claimed civilian lives.” Prof. Mahanamahewa also added that the rights group is trying to bring international attention to the matter owing to the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in September. Lawyers from the ITJP have submitted a criminal complaint to the Attorney General of Singapore requesting the immediate arrest of Rajapaksa over alleged war crimes. The 63-page complaint argues that Rajapaksa committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the war in 2009 when he was Secretary of Defence, and that these are crimes subject to domestic prosecution in Singapore under universal jurisdiction.  The legal complaint argues that Rajapaksa committed alleged grave breaches to the Geneva Conventions and the violation of international humanitarian law, and international criminal law during the war in Sri Lanka. These include alleged murder, execution, torture and inhuman treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence, the deprivation of liberty, severe bodily and mental harm, and starvation. The South Africa-based ITJP argued that based on universal jurisdiction, the alleged abuses are subject to prosecution in Singapore, where he fled after months of unrest over his country's economic crisis. Rajapaksa submitted his resignation while in Singapore, a day after fleeing on 13 July. Anti-Government protestors had stormed the offices and official residences of the President and the Prime Minister.


More News..